1. - Since the appellant has been convicted for offences under Sections 366, 376 IPC, the entire case turns on the issue whether the prosecutrix was a minor or was major on the date of alleged incident. According to the prosecution, the prosecutrix was less than 16 years old on 26.12.2007, the date of the alleged incident. Therefore, the question of her giving consent to a sexual intercourse does not arise. However, the defence has pleaded that, in fact, she was more than 16 years old on the date of the alleged incident; therefore, the issue of consent is eminently germane to the decision of this case.

2. The prosecution has relied upon the Admission Form (Ex.P-9), S.R. Register (Ex.P-8A) and T.C. Form (Ex.P-10) to buttress its contention that the date of birth of the prosecutrix is, in fact, 04.08.1992. Thus, she was a minor on the date of alleged incident. On the other hand, since the Investigating Agency did not get the age of the prosecutrix determined immediately after she was recovered, when the appellant's bail application was moved before this Court, this Court directed that the prosecutrix's age be determined by a Medical Board. Therefore, on 29.08.2008, the Medica